Category: Puppies

Farewell to PUREHEARTBUL Garrett

On By pureheartbullmastiffsIn Puppies, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Being a breeder certainly has it’s highs and lows. Today was a low day as I made the decision to put my beautiful red collar fawn boy PUREHEARTBUL Garrett to sleep.

This lovely second born boy came out feet first and was having difficulty breathing. After assisting him to to be born I spent the next few minutes breathing for him then realised he had mucus on his lungs. After spending time sucking out the mucus and breathing for him he gulped in a huge breath and started screaming. Wow, did he have a huge set of pipes.

He was alive and well, then checked over by the vets when the rest of his siblings were delivered via c-section that evening. All was good until I noticed that he was struggling to get up at three weeks of age. I spent many hours teaching him how to get up and making him walk. He learned quickly and was getting stronger however he started to walk sideways.

Although challenging he moved quickly and kept up with all the other pups, playing with his siblings and Cora’s kids with gusto and never let them stand over him. He was a cuddler and was first to run to the fence to get his morning cuddles from me…

Then at his 6 week health check the veterinarian heard a heart murmur. LIKE, OMG, WHY, didn’t this boy have enough on his plate already…

So today, at eight weeks old, a trip to the vets for a plan to manage him was carried out along with lots of cuddles with the vet nurses.

First up, the exray of his leg which worried me the most because I knew the heart murmur could be operated on, however, a giant dog needs his back legs to function normally.

The exray revealed that Garrett was born with a defect which resulted in not having a socket for his femur to attach/sit in so it was like it was just floating. Being such a young dog surgery is simply not possible until he is 18 months old and his bones have fully developed.

Just imagine trying to stop a 50-60kg dog from wanting to jump and play only to realise that it hurt and worst watching him in pain. My ethics have always been quality of life, not quantity. I have been blessed to have cared and watch him grow into a stunning happy boy even through the pain for the eight weeks of life I was previliged to share with him.

It turned out that the murmur was dissipating and correcting by itself as the vets could hardly hear it. Small miracles however I would take the heart murmur over the leg anyday.

Garrett was a my success story and sadly I could never predict this scenario for my handsome boy.

RIP my little man, run free and remember mumma loves you…

Cuddles on my lap
Boo saying goodbye to her boy

********

A point to note that due to PUREHEARTBUL Dainty Lady Ava’s early retirement from breeding I only breed Boo to carry on her beautiful bloodlines and PUREHEARTBUL Giselle will indeed carry on her legacy.

This has been the most challenging experience as even though I was expecting four pups she gave birth to seven and unfortunately I have lost three boys from this litter.

The first one was still born, then PUREHEARTBUL Gerard choked on his biscuits and died in my arms while I was attempting to save his life and PUREHEARTBUL Garrett with a birth defect.

Breeding strong, sound quality dogs with no issues is what I as a breeder aim for however it still sucks when you loose them because no matter what you love them all…

Karen Feldbauer 

❤️

Large Bullmastiff Litters

On By pureheartbullmastiffsIn Bonnie, Karen's Update, PuppiesLeave a comment

The Bullmastiff is a giant dog, and the female bitch can weigh up to 60-70 kgs during pregnancy. My experience has been that with a large litter a pup is generally born between 200g and 400grams, however a small litter means puppies can generally weigh up to 700grams. This is a big difference in the scheme of puppy development and feeding regime.

My Bonnie weighed in at 64.6 kgs at full pregnancy therefore managing 12 puppies in a whelping pen is a lot of work. It requires a backup team to assist her to manage these little ones and that team consisted of Bonnie, myself, and Graeme.

21st February 2023 was a really hot day in Wagga Wagga and extremely muggy meaning that the evaporative cooling was ineffective. Bonnie was rushed in for an emergency c-section late evening due to a green discharge from her vulva which potentially meant that one or more puppies were in trouble.

We got the call about midnight that we had 13 puppies, 7 boys and 6 girls which was fantastic news however one didn’t make it.

When she came home from the c-section she was still groggy and not capable of much, even picking herself up was hard to watch and then waking up to 12 screaming babies was not what poor Bonnie was expecting.

Born early, Bonnie’s milk didn’t drop, meant we had to improvise. As inexperienced bottle feeders, a steep learning curve was upon us and if we didn’t get if right, we were looking at losing 12 puppies. We had to understand how these teats worked because as we learnt if the hole was not the right size, they were sucking nothing and if too big I was potentially drowning them.

ARRGGHHHH!!! Who would have thought it would be challenging to feed twelve puppies from a bottle. So, after we got the combination right and Bonnie’s milk came in, we were swapping from bottle to teat constantly. Finally, the puppies were thriving, whew I could relax, so I thought.

Now, Bonnie was not a natural at motherhood. She was clumsy and I constantly feared she would step on or squash her babies. So, to get some sleep we set the alarm on a 2-3 hourly roster, feed the puppies during this night on mum’s teats, took them away from her and commenced supplementing with the bottle throughout the day. It worked!!

As they got older Bonnie was doing everything right in relation to cleaning them up, however, I always had to watch her and after loosing another three boys over a two-week period, one which she asphyxiated at two weeks old, I was very mindful of not leaving her with them unattended.

The puppies adapted and while I did most of the cleaning and bottle feeding during each feed we got into a rhythm. At three weeks the puppies were ready for food and loving it. Feeding time became more about solids and at four weeks they were lapping milk and water.

Having a large litter requires a lot of work, resilience, patience, and love and even though Bonnie was not a natural mum it didn’t mean I loved her any less. I just needed to adjust my expectations and pick up the slack.

Until next time… Karen out for now…

The Bonnie and Angus Journey

On By pureheartbullmastiffsIn Bonnie, PuppiesLeave a comment

9th March 2023

Bonnie, after one missed natural mating, one TCI and one surgical insemination sadly didn’t fall pregnant all over a two year period.

Then as luck would have it she came into she came into season just before Christmas 2022. Armed with the knowledge that Angus truly is a stud, we let them get to it however due to the heat and inexperience poor Angus just wasn’t getting it together and he was tiring himself out. As I did not want Bonnie to miss out on becoming a mum again I intervened.

A progesterone test for Bonnie with our vet Andrea from Wagga Wagga Veterinary Hospital to establish the best days for mating. Now that this was known we booked in two natural Artifical Inseminations (AI) attempts with doctor David Riordan from Holbrook Veterinary Clinic over the Christmas break.

At four weeks we visited the vet again for a scan and quickly realised there was a lot of puppies onboard with an expected due date of 25th to 27th of February 2023. With this many pups on board an X-ray was necessary to establish numbers and eleven puppies were counted.

Whew! I knew I had my work cut out for me with many sleepless nights ahead.

In the early evening on a very hot Tuesday 21st February a very stressed Bonnie was not doing so well and a quick decision lead to an emergency cesarean section with 13 puppies born at 10:30pm that evening. The inital count was seven boys and six girls. Unfortunately one passed at delivery.

A day after they were born we lost a little boy and within two weeks lost two more boys. It’s a sad thing to lose any puppies however focus must always be on the surviving no matter how much it breaks your heart.

Until next time Karen out…

Bonnie with her eleven puppies on day one.
Bonnie with her eleven puppies on day one.

Winter Whelping

On By pureheartbullmastiffsIn PuppiesLeave a comment

Our whelping plans started two years ago with establising essential item in preparation for whelping in any season with our two bitches Bonnie and Boo. Then, finally with a successful surgical AI mating the final touches were put into play. (A huge shout out of thanks and appreciation to Dr David Riordan BVSc and his team at Holbrook Vet Centre)

Our setup was simple, lots and lots of towels, newspaper, pee pads, Lilcracka Whelping blankets, electric blankets, whelping pen, other essentials items and the restructure of our living/dining spaces. Most importantly was having access to an on-call veterinarian to assist if needed, which of course, we did. Forever grateful to Dr Anita, who went above and beyond, Dr Andrea and the dedicated team at Wagga Veterinary Hospital.

While “Boo” thought it would be a good idea to have pups in the middle of winter the reality is that so much more effort is required for puppies to not only survive but thrive in the 0 to -4 degree temperatures.

Armed with the knowledge that our first litter would be during the coldest days/nights, we setup the pen three weeks out from the expected due date and let Boo enjoy the comforts of being inside. During this time we tested the heating of the gas heater and radiant heater to maintain a constant temperature. Not looking forward to the upcoming gas and electricity bills…eek!!! We were set.

The first week, as advised by so many breeders was indeed the hardest. The concern of, have I got the temperature right, along with the lack of sleep put me into hibination until Graeme and I found our rhythm. After the third day I did the early night shift then at 2-3am Graeme took over. Haaaaa sleep!!

The second week after the first was a breeze. Temperature was evenly distributed and the puppies were thriving and Boo was becoming an excellent mum and no more squashing attempts when they cried or squawked…

Even though we lost a pup, not because it was winter, we are so grateful to have been blessed with two gorgeous fur babies, a brindle boy Argos and a fawn girl Ava. Both are thriving and living a great life through the winter months in our home with all the love and support from our family.

Until next time… bless… Karen out

Our First Litter

On By pureheartbullmastiffsIn PuppiesLeave a comment
Pureheartbul Wiggle It Argos and Pureheartbul Danity Lady Ava

I have been planning this, our first litter since Locki came into our lives three years ago. Locki was going to be my stud and my intention was to mate him with Bella and the next bitches (Bonnie and Boo) who supassed her. All that changed when Bella was diagnosed with cancer and within a few weeks of diagnosis she visited doggie heaven.

Our first season with Bonnie was a huge disappointment when we learnt that Locki just didn’t have any semen, so my BIG stunning placid, gentle giant boy became my teddy bear.

Then armed with frozen semen from quality breeders we tried again and again without any luck so on the fifth attempt between the two girls we finally had success and with three little one’s onboard we were excited to welcome them into our world with Boo as their adoring mum.

The challenges of listening to your heart and betterment of what you think is right for your bitch as opposed to the many years of experience of your peers and veterinarians opinions can be somewhat overwhelming. You see, many breeders with years of experience, believe that as I used frozen semen, then I should arrange a c-section on my girl for the delivery of my pups. It was my belief that they should be born naturally.

My dilemma was that Boo already had no understanding that she was made pregnant and waking up to three puppies after a caesarean could be very confusing which might end in Boo rejecting her puppies. So I made the decision with the experienced veterinarian on board to try naturally and then arrange a c-section if required.

On 10th July 2022 we welcomed two little brindle boys born naturally and one fawn girl born by caesarean and unfortunately the biggest brindle male was still born and crossed over the doggy bridge to heaven… bless this little boy.

We were immediately smitten with our two bundles of joy and pertinently called them Pureheartbul Wiggle It Argos and Pureheartbul Dainty Lady Ava. The names were brought about by their characters as Argos just wiggled right on out and hasn’t stopped wiggling since. Ava was first called Apricot however we were watching the movie Ava which was about a strong female character and well this just fit and she is called Dainty Lady Ava, as she is a bull dozer because that’s how her life began.

With nine teats to choose from this dynamic duo, from day one, scramble for the same teat. It is so funny to watch these little gems swabbling over the same nipple.

I am keeping these two as I can breed Ava with Angus and Argos with Bonnie which will give me my next generation of breeding stock. So with a mix of fawns, red and brindle bullmastiffs I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Until next time… Karen out and grateful for what lies ahead at Pure Heart Bullmastiffs.